Why Bob Kraft is a special owner

Posted on: December 17, 2011 5:09 pm

Edited on: December 17, 2011 6:14 pm

I want to tell you a story. It doesn't involve Tim Tebow. It has nothing to do with James Harrison or money or television ratings. It begins with a meeting in Denver on Saturday morning between Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, and Kathy Redmond, a longtime crusader against athlete violence. This is what happened.

Kraft and Redmond have a connection that goes back years. Kraft has always admired Redmond and Redmond has felt the same about Kraft. The bond goes back to a player, a violent person, named Christian Peter. Some of you will remember that name. Peter was drafted by the Patriots in the fifth round of the 1996 draft. Peter had been a one-man crime wave as a college player at Nebraska and part of that alleged wave included Redmond saying Peter had raped her while both were at the university.

Redmond would go on to become a freedom fighter for women's rights and Peter would get drafted. Redmond was a key component in raising public awareness about Peter. Then Peter contributed to his own demise. He'd get his eigth conviction in seven years shortly before the draft and Kraft, along with his late wife, Myra, made an historic decision: he relinquished Peter's draft rights.

Again, it was a brave decision, something that had never been done before.

Which lead to this meeting between Kraft and Redmond.

"It was very emotional," said Redmond.

Redmond said that in the meeting Kraft disclosed a piece of information that I had never heard before. At that time, Kraft was new to football ownership, and Kraft faced pressure from other NFL owners not to relinquish Peter's rights because other owners didn't want to set a precedent. Think about that for a second.

If what Kraft says is true that is an astounding thing. Some owners wanted to protect Peter and the NFL more than they wanted to do the right thing.

Kraft has always been one of my favorite owners because he does care about these types of things. And Redmond has long been a hero.

The meeting between Kraft and Redmond was almost like a thank you to each other. Kraft ended the meeting by saying: "I wish my sweetheart could have made it here." Kraft, of course, meant Myra.

Why Bob Kraft is a special owner

Why Bob Kraft is a special owner

Sawdusk, are you 9 years old?

Kraft is an owner, not the GM. Parcells/Grier drafted Peter. Kraft, as a relatively new owner, did something UNPRECEDENTED in the 75 year history of the NFL - - he overruled them and gave up the 5th round choice. He backed Grier earlier on the Glenn 1st round choice, but this one was all from the owner. That day caused the final rift between Parcells (who never cared a whit about a player's responsibility to society - - see Lawrence Taylor, Dave Megget or Christian Peter) and Kraft.

This victim, and another one who now works for a Fox affiliate in Denver and wrote this:

know who the villains are and who the good guy is in all this.

Parcells will be judged someday for what he was. Kraft will be judged far more highly.

Since: Dec 26, 2011

Posted on: December 26, 2011 12:56 am

Why Bob Kraft is a special owner

Sawdusk, are you 9 years old?

Kraft is an owner, not the GM. Parcells/Grier drafted Peter. Kraft, as a relatively new owner, did something UNPRECEDENTED in the 75 year history of the NFL - - he overruled them and gave up the 5th round choice. He backed Grier earlier on the Glenn 1st round choice, but this one was all from the owner. That day caused the final rift between Parcells (who never cared a whit about a player's responsibility to society - - see Lawrence Taylor, Dave Megget or Christian Peter) and Kraft.

This victim, and another one who now works for a Fox affiliate in Denver and wrote this:

know who the villains are and who the good guy is in all this.

Parcells will be judged someday for what he was. Kraft will be judged far more highly.

Since: Apr 29, 2007

Posted on: December 17, 2011 7:55 pm

Why Bob Kraft is a special owner

Ahh, but the press didn't crucify him. There was a couple stories about it, but nothing of any real substance until right around the time of the draft. I thought though that I remembered his eighth conviction happened just after the draft, and that is when Kraft released him. The Pats had already drafted him, and made all the statements that they would provide a stable place to help him concentrate on football etc...

As a team it sucked because the Pats were not incredibly talented and could have used a good player in that spot, but most of the Pats fans in this area anyways, thought Kraft did the right thing, though more than a couple thought his draft team should have done a better job of research before the draft.

Since: Aug 7, 2008

Posted on: December 17, 2011 6:38 pm

Why Bob Kraft is a special owner

Why isn't this article about why Kraft drafted a guy with seven freaking convictions in the first place?????? and then only released him after the press crucified him for the pick?

Kraft is no doubt a fine person, but this is a black-eye on his character, if anything.

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